Putter type golf club and a method of using it

ABSTRACT

A golf club of the so called putter type comprising a cylinder shaped head ( 10 ) with a vertical semi-through hole ( 15 ) placed in the middle of the cylindrical surface, a second threaded hole perpendicular to the first one for the insertion of a screw ( 16 ), a shaft ( 11 ) of adjustable length inserted in the first hole, with the first portion inserted in said semi-through hole, vertically and orthogonally relative to said head and comprising portions, one opposite to the other, folded at an angle in relation to the first vertical portion, the angled upper portion terminating with an end which is parallel to the ground when the club is in its position of use, said end in its turn supporting the grip formed by two spheres ( 12,12 ′) of different diameter, with the inner sphere ( 12 ′) capable of sliding along the shaft.

The present invention refers to a golf club of the so called putter type comprising a cylinder shaped head with a centrally placed vertical hole, through which the shaft is inserted, said shaft, of adjustable length, being appropriately shaped and terminating with a grip formed by two spheres of different diameter, with adjustable reciprocal position, which allow an ergonomic grip; moreover the invention refers to a method of performing the decisive shot on the green where the player hits the ball in a frontal position with respect to the target (hole), moving said club toward himself in the load phase and subsequently letting the ball be hit by the cylindrical head, with a pendulum like movement in which said head oscillates between the legs of the player himself.

It is well known the importance of the grip in performing a hitting shot, especially in the case of a putt when the ball must be holed. For instance, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,089 describes and claims a method of performing the decisive shot, the so called putt, by means of which it seems possible to control the speed of the stroke and the direction of the shot: said method substantially envisages the grip of the club with the dominant hand and the placement of the other hand on the wrist of the dominant hand in order to obtain a certain stabilization of said dominant hand without any appreciable influence on the shot. The shot is performed with the traditional address position where the body of the golfer is parallel to the oscillation of the club: said address position can, however, determine some problems even in the stabilization of the stroking hand or in the trajectory of the ball, when one bears in mind that said ball must be hit with a well determined position of the head of the golf club. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,698, among others, describes a cylindrical shape clubhead, in which the impact area with the ball practically exctends through the whole length of the cylinder; however, the shaft is connected to the head at an end of the cylinder therefore determining its use with a traditional address, with the consequence of a certain hesitation in controlling the execution of the shot, which is not a minor disadvantage when performing the decisive shot.

The applicant has now found, and this is the object of the present invention, how to manufacture a putter that allows a positive control of the stroke, in terms of ball speed and direction on the green and, as a second object of the invention, an original method to use said putter for performing the decisive shot without any of the hesitations and problems that all the means known to date do not avoid. Therefore a first object of the present invention is a golf club, of the so called putter type, comprising a cylinder shaped head with a vertical semi-through hole placed in the middle of the cylindrical surface, and a second threaded hole perpendicular to the first for the insertion of a screw, a shaft of adjustable length, inserted in the first hole, with the first portion inserted in said hole vertically and orthogonally relative to said head and comprising portions, one opposite the other, folded at an angle relative to the first vertical portion, the upper angled portion terminating with an end which is parallel to the ground when the club is in its position of use, said end in its turn supporting the grip formed by two spheres of different diameter which allow an ergonomic grip, with the internal sphere capable of sliding along the shaft in order to allow the regulation of the grip itself; moreover, weights can appropriately be added to the head, because said head can be manufactured with internal symmetrical slots suitable for the insertion of filling elements with various weight values.

FIG. 1 shows the full drawing of the golf club according to the present invention, where the cylindrical head 10, the shaft with the vertical and angled portions 11 and the grip formed by two spheres of different diameter 12 and 12′, inserted in a part intended to remain horizontal when the head is laying on the green are clearly shown: in the drawing, said head is shown as solid, but said head could appropriately be manufactured (FIGS. 2 and 3) with its special slots 13 for placing symmetrical weights 14 in order to allow the weight regulation. Moreover, the second threaded hole 15 for the insertion of a screw could also be placed in any other position, on the cylindrical head.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 show the detail of the grip and of the sliding of the internal sphere 12′ along the shaft.

FIG. 7 exemplifies the realization of the head, in which are clearly shown: the insertion of the end of the shaft in the vertical semi-through hole 20 and the manner in which the horizontal threaded hole 15 for the insertion of a screw 16—which blocks the system and acts at the same time as a reference for the impact with the ball—is centrally placed. With said hole in a different position, the reference for the impact with the ball is given directly by the point of insertion of the shaft.

Moreover, loosening the screw allows the head of the putter to slide along the shaft until it reaches the desired length: the regulation of the height of the shaft thus allows the club to be easily adjusted for use by players of different height, and undoubtedly represents an advantage, which adds to the cylindrical shape of the head, allowing to hit the ball on any point on said head, even different from the so called reference point, without any loss, for the golfer, in terms of shot speed and direction. FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of the impact between the putter and the ball: the first hits the upper part of the second creating a top-spin effect that eases the rolling of the ball. The shot is performed by the player according to a method, itself an object of the present invention, which comprises the following operations by part of the golfer himself:

-   -   positioning the body frontally with respect to the hole;     -   gripping the putter grip with both hands;     -   positioning the feet apart from each other and the knees         slightly bent;     -   positioning the arms, with the hands on the grip, so that the         head of the club is next to the ball;     -   positioning the head of the player perpendicular on the ball;     -   loading the putter with a pendulum like movement using the         shoulders as a pivot and the head of the putter as the mass;     -   oscillation of the putter between the legs and hit on the ball         with the long part of the cylindrical head of the putter.

FIG. 9 shows the grip of the putter with both hands; FIGS. 10 and 10′ show the positioning of the body of the golfer in profile and frontally. The sequence of FIGS. 11/11′-12/12′-13/13′ exemplifies the movement which precedes and accompanies the shot, while FIGS. 14 and 15 show the difference in position according to the present invention (A) and the traditional address (B). 

1. A golf club, of the so called putter type, comprising a cylindrical shaped head with a vertical through hole placed in the middle of the cylinder, a second horizontal threaded hole for the insertion of a screw, a shaft of adjustable length inserted in the first hole, with the first portion inserted vertically and orthogonally relative to said head in said through hole and comprising portions, one opposite to the other, folded at an angle relative to the first vertical portion, the upper angled portion terminating with an end which is parallel to the ground when the club is in its position of use, said end in its turn supporting the grip formed by two spheres of different diameter, with the internal sphere capable of sliding along the shaft.
 2. The golf club, according to the first claim, characterized by the fact that the head comprises the symmetrical internal slots suitable for the insertion of filling elements.
 3. The golf club, according to the first claim, characterized by the fact that the second horizontal threaded hole is positioned in the center.
 4. A method to perform the decisive shot by using a golf club according to claim 1, comprising the following actions by part of the golfer: positioning the body frontally relative to the ball; gripping the putter grip with both hands; positioning the feet apart from each other and keeping the knees slightly bent; positioning the arms, with the hands on the grip, so that the clubhead is next to the ball; positioning the head of the player perpendicular on the ball; loading the putter with a pendulum like movement with the shoulders as pivot and the putter head as a mass; oscillation of the putter between the legs and hit on the ball with the long part of the cylindrical head of the putter.
 5. The golf club, according to claim 1, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and
 2. 